Communication Matters

Sometimes I am not as well informed about political events as I should be.  The fact that community meetings are being held on the Secure Communities strategy was total news to me.  Hopefully, there are many people more informed on this than I was.

The Main Street Journal is a online Massachusetts newspaper specializing in local news.  It posted an article on Friday about a Secure Communities forum that will take place at Lawrence High School on Saturday, April 2nd from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM.  The article describes Secure Communities as “the Department of Homeland Security’s comprehensive strategy to improve the identification and removal of criminal aliens from the United States.”

The article reports:

“Governor Deval Patrick announced earlier this month that a series of community meetings would be held to promote an open dialogue on the subject. However, Tea Party activists who attended a recent hearing held in Framingham have charged the forums have been rigged to produce a pre-determined outcome, specifically to leave the impression that Massachusetts residents are opposed to the initiative.

“The panel at the Framingham event was one-sided and included only those who opposed the program. Panelists were allowed extensive latitude to speak and control the forum while members of the audience were allowed only one minute to speak each.”
The article explains that the Secure Communities program provides for an immigration-history check as well as the routing criminal-history check done on every person booked into a local jail.   
 
The article further reports:
 
“Ralph Belmore, co-chair of the Marlborough Tea Party said he believes the public is largely unaware of the Secure Communities program and the series of public hearings scheduled by the governor’s office. On the other hand, illegal immigrant advocacy groups appear to be well aware and are playing a key role in the hearings. “We want the governor to take action,” said Belmore who believes most Massachusetts residents would back the plan if they knew about it.”
The problem is that most Massachusetts residents know nothing about the public hearings or the Secure Communities program.  I consider myself fairly well informed on current events, but this article was news to me.  Secure borders are a necessary part of a safe and stable country.  I have no problem with legal immigration–it’s a good thing (although streamlining the process would be a really good idea), but coming here illegally shows a disrespect for the laws of America.  I realize there are many illegals here that are honest, hardworking people, but we need to find a way to help them become legal and we need to find a way to let them know that they are subject to all the laws of the land.  Any illegal who breaks the law should be given a ticket home immediately.  The first step in this process is finding out whether a criminal is here legally or illegally.  That seems to be common sense.